Former German Chancellor Merkel Defends Russia Policy Against Accusations Of Appeasement

Topline

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel argued Tuesday that Russia would have invaded Ukraine much earlier if not for steps by Germany and its allies, as German officials face accusations their historically strong economic ties with Russia were a form of appeasement.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

AP/Markus Schreiber

Key Facts

In her first interview since leaving office nearly six months ago, Merkel reportedly defended her opposition to starting the NATO membership process for Ukraine in 2008, a move Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has described as a “miscalculation” (the same year, NATO agreed Ukraine could join the alliance but did not set a specific timeframe).

Merkel argued that at the time of the 2008 decision, Ukraine suffered from corruption and lacked a stable democratic government, and she said Putin would have reacted angrily if Ukraine—a former Soviet state Russia has sought to keep in its orbit for decades—entered the NATO alliance, according to a translation of her remarks by the Associated Press.

Merkel also defended Germany’s role in brokering the 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements, which opened a dialogue on self-government for two regions of eastern Ukraine that were partially taken over by Russian-backed separatists starting in 2014, terms Ukraine has opposed, according to Politico’s translation.

Merkel reportedly said she will not apologize for these steps, arguing diplomacy with Russia wasn’t necessarily wrong even if it was unsuccessful, though she conceded she had failed to build a “security architecture” to prevent the invasion.

Merkel added the invasion of Ukraine was “a big mistake on Russia’s part,” according to the AP.

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Merkel conceded sanctions on Russia after it annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 “could have been stronger,” but said there wasn’t strong support for such measures at the time, according to the AP’s translation.

Crucial Quote

“I have tried to work in the direction of preventing mischief,” Merkel said, according to Politico. “And if diplomacy doesn’t succeed, this doesn’t mean that it was therefore wrong. Thus I don’t see why I should say: ‘That was wrong.’ And therefore I won’t apologize.”

Key Background

Though relations between Merkel and Putin have often been strained, Germany and Russia have been tightly bound by trade: In 2021, Russia supplied about 55% of Germany’s natural gas imports, 35% of its oil imports and 50% of its hard coal imports. Merkel and her supporters argued strengthening trade relations with Russia could help tie Russia to a multilateral, rules-based international system. Critics accused the Merkel government of prioritizing Germany’s economic interests over international concerns due to Germany’s dependence on Russian energy, a line of criticism that has grown louder since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Following the invasion, Germany was initially hesitant to support sweeping restrictions on Russian energy imports, arguing such measures would hurt the EU more than Russia. However, Germany has since committed to banning Russian oil imports by the end of the year and hopes to end its reliance on Russian natural gas by 2024. Shortly before the invasion, Germany canceled the still-uncompleted Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, potentially depriving Russia of tens of billions of dollars in revenue.

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